American Girl Knock-Off Balance Beam (How To)

American Girl Knock-Off Balance Beam
Learn how to make a knock-off American Girl balance beam for a McKenna doll.

Just before Christmas a good friend asked if Mr. SP could make a balance beam for her daughter’s American Girl doll for Christmas.  After a quick look at McKenna’s beam and bar on the American Girl website on my phone, I knew that Mr. SP would have a blast building this.  (Little did he know that I would insist on helping.)

McKenna's Beam and Bar

 

We were able to complete this project by using materials that we had on hand.  We started by finding a chunk of wood in Mr. SP’s wood stash that would work.

Wood for Beam

 

Mr. SP then used the table saw to cut it to an more appropriate size for the doll to use as a balance beam.

Cutting Wood with Table Saw

 

It was then sanded smooth on all sides.

Sanding Beam

 

For the legs, Mr. SP traced a peanut can onto a piece of wood and we used the chop saw to cut the long piece into three equal sized ones.

Beam Legs

 

I held the pieces together while cutting them out with the band saw.

Cutting Beam Legs

 

The pieces were sanded smooth.

Sanding Legs

 

Mr. SP sanded off the top of the half circles to make a flat edge for the balance beam to rest.

Sanding Tops of Legs Flat

Legs Roughly in Place

 

The beam was painted hot pink and the legs silver.  (A spray paint trigger keeps my hands clean.  If you don’t have one of these, you need one!)

Spray Painting

 

Mr. SP made supports for the legs and they were glued in place.

Legs Glued on

 

To make sure that the beam’s legs wouldn’t fall off, Mr. SP screwed them into place.

Legs Screwed on

 

What little girl who loves gymnastics and loves American Girl dolls wouldn’t want to play with this.

American Girl Knock-Off Balance Beam2

 

We’ve heard that the recipient is telling people that “real live elves” make a balance beam for her doll.

American Girl Knock-Off Balance Beam Side View

We like being “real live elves”!  It was a privilege to make a little girl happy at Christmas.

Sharing With:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now
Grace at Home at Imparting Grace

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